Seat cushion



W. F. SCHICK Sept. 7, 1965 SEAT CUSHION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 19, 1964 FIG 2 FNVENTOR. W!LL5AM F SCHICK y m f4 KM ATTORNEY Sept. 7, 1965 w. F. SCHICK 3,205,010

SEAT CUSHION Filed May 19, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 3

FIG. 5

INVENTOR. WILLiAM E SCHICK BY 42w ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,205,010 SEAT CUSHION William F. Schick, 3130 SW. 47th Ave., Hollywood, Fla. Filed May 19, 1964, Ser. No. 368,569 Claims. (Cl. 297-460) The present invention relates to an improved seat cushion for positively preventing pressure on the coccyx of a person sitting thereon.

Seat pads having a recessed portion to receive the base of the spine in underlying relationship are used for preventing pressure on a tender coccyx. However, in the past not only was it difficult to align such a seat pad on a chair with the recess in proper position to receive the base of the spine in underlying relationship, but even after such seat pad was aligned it generally moved out of alignment as the person sitting thereon shifted his position. It is with the overcoming of the foregoing shortcomings of the prior art seat cushions that the present invention is concerned.

It is accordingly the primary object of the invention to provide an improved seat cushion for preventing pressure on the base of a persons spine, said cushion including a seat pad portion and a backrest portion for positively centering said seat pad portion with the recess therein in underlying relationship to said base of said spine and for also preventing both lateral and fore and aft shifting movement of said seat pad portion on the surface on which it is located, whether said surface be hard or soft. Other objects and attendant advantages of the present invention will readily be perceived hereafter.

The improved seat cushion of the present invention includes a seat pad portion with a casing having a resilient cushioning element mounted therein, said seat pad portion having a recessed portion for permitting a person to sit on said pad without subjecting the base of his spine to pressure. In addition, attached to the seat pad portion is a backrest portion which is constructed so as to conform to the back of a chair or the like, regardless of its configuration, and thus firmly cradle the lumbar area of a persons back thereby tending to prevent sliding movement of said seat pad portion either fore and aft or laterally as the person moves. Furthermore the distance between the recess in the seat pad portion and the backrest, when in position against the rear of a chair, is predetermined to place the recess in proper position on the chair to receive the base of the spine in perfectly aligned underlying relationship. Thus the improved seat pad and backrest combination of the present invention not only positively aligns a recess in underlying relationship to the base of a persons spine to thereby prevent pressure thereon but also prevents shifting of the seat pad portion as a person moves, to thereby prevent pressure on the base of the spine. The present invention will be more fully understood when the following portions of the specification are read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the improved seat cushion of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the bottom surface of the seat pad;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken substantially along line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the rigid board-like member which is selectively utilized to provide rigidity to the seat pad; and

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken substantially along line 5-5 of FIG. 1.

The improved seat cushion of the present invention includes a seat pad portion 11 and a backrest portion 12. The seat pad portion 11 includes a casing 12' preferably fabricated from a suitable plastic fabric-backed material ice and includes a top wall 13, a bottom wall 14, a pair of side walls 15, a front Wall 16 and a rear wall 17 having a substantially V-shaped indentation 18 therein which follows the contour of the rear portions of the upper and lower walls, said indentation in conjunction with the upper and lower walls providing a V-shaped recess for underlying the coccyx at the base of the spine when the seat pad 11 is on a chair or the like, to thereby relieve said base of said spine from pressure. The walls 15, 16 and 17 are attached to top wall 13 and bottom Wall 14 by sewing said walls together when the casing is turned inside out to thereby provide an internal stitching with welting (not numbered) at the seam.

A resilient cushion 19 (FIG. 3) which is preferably fabricated from urethane foam is located within casing 12 and has a contour in plan which is substantially the same as the contour of the upper and lower walls 14 and 13 with the rear surface of cushion 19 having a V-shaped recess therein (not numbered) which lies in substantially complementary mating relationship with the rear wall 17 of casing 12. Cushion 19 is inserted into casing 12' when slide fastener 20 (FIG. 2) is opened, said slide fastener dividing bottom wall 14 into rear portion 14' and front portion 14".

A rigid board-like element 21, which may be made of composition board or plywood or any other rigid material, is located within casing 12' in underlying relationship to resilient cushioning element 19. This board is selectively insertable and removable from said casing for purposes which will become more apparent hereafter. Board 21 is generally of the same contour as upper wall 13 and lower wall 14 and includes a V-shaped cutout portion 22 which lies in complementary mating relationship with V-shaped rear wall 17.

Board-like element 21 is used to lend rigidity to seat pad 11 when the latter is located on a soft surface such as a sofa cushion to thereby prevent the pad 11 from sinking into said soft surface with the attendant contacting of the base of the spine by the soft surface through the V-shaped recess. However, when seat pad 11 is located on a hard contoured surface such as a wooden chair it is undesirable to have rigid board-like member 21 therein because this will tend to prevent firm engagement of seat pad 11 on said contoured surface. Therefore by opening slide fastener 20, board-like element 21 may be removed and resilient cushioning element 19 may flex to conform to the hard contoured chair surface, the latter also providing the necessary rigidity to the cushioning element 19 to provide for comfortable seating. It is to be noted that slide fastener 20 divides bottom wall 14 into rear section 14' and front section 14" and therefore the slide fastener 20 will not be stressed by front edge 23 of rigid board-like element 21, as it Would be if it were located at the junction of front wall 16 and bottom wall 14. This positioning prevents excessive wear of slide fastener 29.

When the seat pad 11 is used by itself there is the possibility that it would move both fore and aft and laterally on the chair on which it was located in response to the changes in position of a person sitting thereon. Obviously if suflicient movement were effected to cause V-shaped recess 18 to move out of underlying relationship with the base of the spine the person using pad 11 could experience the type of pain which he was attempting to overcome, as the result of being subjected to the pressure of upper surface 13 of pad 11.

In accordance with the present invention a backrest portion 12 is provided for tending to provide against the foregoing contingency. More specifically, backrest portion 12 consists of a casing 23 including a front wall 24 and a rear wall 25 sewn to each other by a peripheral seam 26 having welting (not numbered) therein. In-

cluded within casing 23 is suitable filling such as urethane foam. Vertical seams 27 are sewn in ba-ckrest portion 12 and join front and rear walls 24 and 25. Straps 28 are sewn into the lower seam (not numbered) and have snap fasteners 29 at their outer ends for selective fastening engagement with snap fastener portions 30 (FIG. 2) mounted on lower wall 14. The length of strap 28 is such that when backrest portion 12 is in firm engaging relationship with the back of a chair or the like the recess 18 of seat pad portion 11 will be centered under the base of the spine of a person on said seat pad.

It can be seen from FIGS. 1 and that seams 27 in effect are vertically extending hinges which divide backrest portion 23 into three panels 31, 32 and 33 which are selectively pivotal about said vertical hinges and thus permit the backrest 23 to conform itself to the contour of the backrest portion of a chair and also cradle the lumbar region of a persons back.

It will readily be be appreciated that backrest portion 23 serves a plurality of functions. First of all, when it is squarely against the back of a chair, it locates the seat pad 11 in position which will align recess 18 in underlying relationship to the base of a persons spine. Furthermore once a person is sitting on seat pad 11 the existence of backrest portion 23 between the rear of a chair and the persons back tends to prevent seat pad 11 from moving either in a fore and aft direction or laterally on the chair seat thereby assuring continued alignment between the base of the spine and recess 18. The foregoing alignment is achieved whether the seat pad 11 is being used on a hard surface, suchas a wooden chair, or on a soft surface, such as a sofa cushion.

While preferred embodiment of the present invention has been disclosed it will be appreciated that it may be otherwise embodied within the following claims.

I claim:

1. A seat cushion for providing relief from pressure at the base of the spine of a person sitting on said cushion and usable on a chair or the like having a back portion and a soft seat surface or an irregular hard seat surface comprising: a resilient cushioning element, a recess in said cushioning element located in a position to underlie the base of said spine, a rigid board-like element, means for selectively maintaining said rigid board-like element in underlying relationship relative to said resilient cushioning element to lend rigidity thereto when said seat cushion is located on said soft seat surface to therey prevent said seat cushion from sinking into said soft seat surface to an extent which would permit said soft seat surface to effectively exert pressure on the base of said spine through said recess, said means for selectively maintaining said rigid board-like element in underlying relationship relative to said resilient element including means for permitting selective removal of said rigid board-like element from underlying relationship relative to said resilient cushioning element to thereby permit said resilient cushioning element to adapt itself to the contour of said irregular hard seat surface and therefore be firmly sup ported thereby, backrest means having a rear surface for engaging the back portion of said chair and a front surface for cradling the lumbar region of a persons back, and means for attaching said backrest portion relative to said resilient cushioning element to thereby cause said backrest portion to prevent both fore and aft movement and lateral movement of said seat cushion when said backrest portion is held between a persons back and the back portion of said chair and said seat cushion is located on either said soft surface or said irregular hard seat surface to thereby tend to prevent said recessed portion of said resilient cushioning element from moving out of underlying relationship with the base of said spine.

2. A seat cushion which is selectively usable on a chair or the like having a back portion and either a soft seat surface or an irregular hard seat surface to provide relief from pressure at the base of the spine of a person sitting on said cushion comprising: a seat pad portion having a first casing including an upper wall, a lower Wall and means joining said upper and lower walls to each other; a resilient cushioning element in said casing having substantially the same configuration in plan as said casing; a recess in said resilient cushioning element for underlying said base of said spine to thereby provide a space between the base of said spine and the surface upon which said seat cushion rests; a rigid board-like element underlying said resilient cushioning element to lend rigidity thereto when said seat cushion is located on a soft seat surface to thereby prevent said seat cushion from sinking into said soft seat surface to an extent which would permit said soft seat surface to effectively exert pressure on the base of said spine through said recess; means for permitting selective separation of said rigid board-like element from said casing to permit said resilient cushioning element to conform to the contour of said irregular hard seat surface and therefore be firmly supported thereby; and a backrest portion for supporting said persons lumbar region and comprising a second casing having resilient cushioning means therein, attaching means for attaching said backrest portion to said seat pad portion, said second casing including a rear wall for engagement with said back portion of said chair and a front wall for engagement with said persons lumbar area, said attaching means being of a dimension to cause said recess to underlie the base of said spine when said backrest portion is in firm engagement with said back portion of said chair and therefore acting to center said recess in underlying relationship to said base of said spine, and the maintaining of said backrest portion between the back of said person and said back portion of said chair tending to prevent both fore and aft and lateral movement of said seat cushion relative to said base of said spine as said person shifts on said cushion to thereby tend to prevent said recess from moving out of underlying relationship with the base of said spine.

3. A seat cushion as set forth in claim .2 wherein said backrest portion includes conforming means for causing it to conform to said back portion of said chair.

4. A seat cushion as set forth in claim 3 wherein said conforming means comprises a plurality of vertically extending hinge means for effectively dividing said backrest portion into a plurality of panels for conforming to said back portion of said chair and for cradling said lumbar area to thereby enhance the positive positioning of said recess underneath the base of said spine.

5. A seat cushion as set forth in claim 4 wherein said hinge means comprise seams joining said front and back portions of said backrest portion.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,384,713 9/45 Varma 279-458 2,659,418 11/53 Berman 5-338 2,734,556 2/56 Hebrank 297-284 2,782,839 2/57 Cole 297-219 2,833,341 5/58 Bornstein 297-253 3,093,407 6/63 Wilson 297-219 3,138,806 6/64 Goodman et al 5-327 FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner. 

1. A SEAT CUSHION FOR PROVIDING RELIEF FROM PRESSURE AT THE BASE OF THE SPINE OF A PERSON SITTING ON SAID CUSHION AND USABLE ON A CHAIR OR THE LIKE HAVING A BACK PORTION AND A SOFT SEAT SURFACE OR AN IRREGULAR HARD SEAT SURFACE COMPRISING: A RESILIENT CUSHIONING ELEMENT, A RECESS IN SAID CUSHIONING ELEMENT LOCATED IN A POSITION TO UNDERLIE THE BASE OF SAID SPINE, A RIGID BOARD-LIKE ELEMENT, MEANS FOR SELECTIVELY MAINTAINING SAID RIGID BOARD-LIKE ELEMENT IN UNDERLYING RELATIONSHIP RELATIVE TO SAID RESILIENT CUSHIONING ELEMENT TO LEND RIGIDITY THERETO WHEN SAID SEAT CUSHION IS LOCATED ON SAID SOFT SEAT SURFACE TO THEREBY PREVENT SAID SEAT CUSHION FROM SINKING INTO SAID SOFT SEAT SURFACE TO AN EXTENT WHICH WOULD PERMIT SAID SOFT SEAT SURFACE TO EFFECTIVELY EXERT PRESSURE ON THE BASE OF SAID SPINE THROUGH SAID RECESS, SAID MEANS FOR SELECTIVELY MAINTAINING SAID RIGID BOARD-LIKE ELEMENT IN UNDERLYING RELATIONSHIP RELATIVE TO SAID RESILIENT ELEMENT INCLUDING MEANS FOR PERMITTING SELECTIVE REMOVAL OF SIAD RIGID BOARD-LIKE ELEMENT FROM UNDERLYING RELATIONSHIP RELATIVE TO SAID RESILIENT CUSHIONING ELEMENT TO THEREBY PERMIT SAID RESILIENT CUSHIONING ELEMENT TO ADAPT ITSELF TO THE CONTOUR OF SAID IRREGULAR HARD SEAT SURFACE AND THEREFORE BE FIRMLY SUPPORTED THEREBY, BACKREST MEANS HAVING A REAR SURFACE FOR ENGAGING THE BACK PORTION OF SAID CHAIR AND A FRONT SURFACE FOR CRADLING THE LUMBAR REGION OF A PERSON''S BACK, AND MEANS FOR ATTACHING SAID BACKREST PORTION RELATIVE TO SAID RESILIENT CUSHIONING ELEMENT TO THEREBY CAUSE SAID BACKREST PORTION TO PREVENT BOTH FORE AND AFT MOVEMENT AND LATERAL MOVEMENT OF SAID SEAT CUSHION WHEN SAID BACKREST PORTION IS HELD BETWEEN A PERSON''S BACK AND THE BACK PORTION OF SAID CHAIR AND SAID SEAT CUSHION IS LOCATED ON EITHER SAID SOFT SURFACE OR SAID IRREGULAR HARD SEAT SURFACE TO THEREBY TEND TO PREVENT SAID RECESSED PORTION OF SAID RESILIENT CUSHIONING ELEMENT FROM MOVING OUT OF UNDERLYING RELATIONSHIP WITH THE BASE OF SAID SPINE. 